They left the room. Anna continued her hold on Matteo’s arm as if he’d thrown her one of those life rings from an ocean liner to rescue her from a trip overboard. The further they got from the ballroom, the more she wanted to bend down and pull off the offending shoe and hurl it. She came really close to doing so when they stepped on the escalator. The tip of the heel caught in the treads and she stumbled.

Luckily, Matteo had a good grip on her and kept her on her feet.

“Thanks.” Anna smiled up at him. “It would’ve been a disaster if I fell down this escalator. I’d never live it down and the members of the bar who haven’t met me yet would know me as that klutz lawyer.”

“I doubt that. They’d know you as a nice woman who sacrificed herself for sexy legs.”

“Huh?” She shook her head. Did he mean he thought she was sexy?

“Yeah. I’m sure you know since you’ve been a woman for quite a while that tall heels make a woman’s legs look longer and more toned. Men sure know it. We notice those things.”

They’d arrived at the bottom of the moving stairs. She stepped off. “I’ve been a woman for quite a while?” She couldn’t help herself. His statement cracked her up. She burst into laughter.

“That really wasn’t a very suave line, was it?”

“No. It absolutely was not.” Anna was still laughing as they moved to the exit.

Outside, she turned to Matteo. “Thanks for helping me out back there and getting me away from Gina with that story about dinner. She and Renee forced me to come tonight and I really was ready to disappear. I owe you one.”

“How about really going to dinner with me then?”

“What part of my feet are killing me don’t you get? I’ve got to get these shoes off.”

“How about this? We order food and I pick it up. There are all kinds of places nearby.”